Craig Moropoulos says his young SBCC football team has plenty of room for improvement.
The Vaqueros hope to take a step forward when they play Antelope Valley in their home opener on Saturday at 6 p.m.
“We have a long way to go and we’re working hard to get there,” said Moropoulos, who’s in his fifth season as head coach. “We had a lot of guys who played through pain last week and were working real hard at the end of the game.
“We need to play with a lot less penalties. We have to be a little more poised and stay out of first and 15 and second and 15 situations.”
The Vaqueros had 12 penalties for 80 yards in last week’s 33-14 season-opening setback at Hancock.
Keegan Robilotta will start at quarterback and Jake Umphreyville is also expected to play. Robilotta completed 12-of-22 passes for 115 yards and a TD in his debut last week while Umphreyville was 5-7 for 39 yards.
AVC dropped a 44-23 decision at Canyons in its opener. Quarterback Cameron Coon completed 24-of-38 for 272 yards and two TDs. He also had three interceptions.
SBCC won last year’s game at Antelope Valley 30-14 and leads the all-time series 12-10. Both teams struggled with their rushing attacks last week with SBCC netting 38 yards and AVC 35.
Sophomore linebacker Manny Hernandez led the Vaquero defense with 13 tackles at Hancock.
“This is our first home game and we want to get a win,” said Hernandez, a former San Marcos High star. “Our defense has to play all four quarters and give the offense as many opportunities as we can.”
SBCC will introduce its Vaquero Honorary Captain program on Saturday. The Vaqueros will highlight a person or organization at each home game. The first one is Eliana Georges and the The Teddy Bear Cancer Foundation.
Saturday’s game will be broadcast on AM 1290 radio.
